


LoZ: Land of the Dead

by Sister_Says_Go



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Angst, F/M, I reserve the right to kill characters as I see fit, On Hiatus, Werewolf, You Have Been Warned, Zombie Apocalypse, Zombies, and work on like 7 other barely started fics, but anyways first long fic!, but plenty of angst, come suffer with me, eventual intermittent fluff, it turns out I am horrific at keeping up with longform fics, it's zombies after all, just one, lots of undead, maybe less, oops sorry, original adventure, sorta apocalypse, tags to be added as more story is released, takes place in Twilight Princess' Hyrule but like 1000 years later, while I both get my shit together
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-13
Updated: 2019-10-28
Packaged: 2020-12-14 07:50:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21012305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sister_Says_Go/pseuds/Sister_Says_Go
Summary: Hyrule. A land of peace and tranquility, between the by now expected calamities every several hundreds of years or so. In every iteration it goes through, some things will always remain the same. Where there is a monarchy, there will be a castle at its center, with a town at its base. Where there is a volcano, there will be Gorons. Where there is a forest, fairies and spirits will play. Where good exists, evil will rise to destroy it. And when evil rises, so too will the dead.In other words, the next Link incarnation after the Twilight Era has to deal with zombies. A lot of them. As well as other assorted undead. Luckily he won’t be alone.On perpetual hiatus





	1. Prologue

One day in late summer in an era of peace, a boy was born in a small village far south of Castle Town. He had wheat blonde hair, sapphire blue eyes, boundless curiosity of all things, and more courage than was honestly safe or sane to have. They named him Link, after a distant ancestor rumored to be one of the many heroes of Hyrule.

By the age of 3, his parents couldn’t get him to hold still, or stay in the same place, for more than a minute. By the age of five, he had escaped his parents and explored the surrounding forests many more times than they would have preferred. By the age of seven, he had the surrounding forests mapped out in his head, and spent more time out there than he did in the village. By the age of nine, his courage got the better of him, and he went deeper into the forest than he ever had before. By the age of ten, he had found the remains of a house built into a large tree, facing what may have once been a path into another village, but was now filled with rubble. The moon shone above, and though Link knew his parents would be worried, he was not. Having lived in relative peace thus far, thus having no real reasons to be afraid in his mind, he decided to explore. Inside, he found many things, though little of it interested him. A stray green rupee under what was once a bed, piles of rotten paper on shelves, a dusty old furnace, the splintered remains of a table and chairs. No, nothing was really of any interest until he noticed the hole going down in the back of the house, tucked away in a corner. What was once a stable ladder led down the hole, though Link was light enough that he could make it to the bottom without incident.

Upon entering the room beneath the tree, he noticed several things at once. First, it was rather dark, though not as dark as it would have been had the roof in the house above not caved in ages ago. Second, there was a dusty, tarnished mirror propped up in one corner, surrounded by rotting boxes. Third, and in his opinion most importantly, there was a rusted old treasure chest in the dead center of the room. He, of course, would be opening said chest. Within it, he found but one thing. A small rotten leather bag with something in it. He picked up the bag and turned it upside down over his other hand. Out fell a small object, shaped rather like an arrowhead, made of a pitch black material, with multiple faintly glowing lines of orange. Link, of course, had very little time to consciously notice most of this, because upon the object hitting his hand, he passed out.

At the same time, Princess Zelda, age twelve, innumerable of her name, woke from a frightening dream of the dead rising, and covering the land. As she had never had a prophetic dream before, she didn’t recognize the signs, and merely made sure her Sheikah guard and caretaker Impa was nearby, before attempting to go back to sleep, already forgetting what had awoken her in the first place.

One day in late summer near the end of an era of peace, a boy woke up in the ruins of a house in what used to be Ordon Village. He had coal black hair, blood red eyes, small patches of fur growing down his body, and a marking of the Triforce on his left hand, with the Triforce of Courage glowing a bright gold. His name was Link, after the man who once lived in the very house he had found, who was the first bearer of the curse that would plague the young boy for the rest of his days.

This is the story of when Hyrule became a Land of the Dead.


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And here we go, Chapter 1! Enjoy!

Link wakes slowly, blinking at the light shining into his eyes. He groans, lifting his aching arm over his eyes, fur brushing against his- wait, fur? That wasn’t right. His eyes snap back open, and he suddenly sits up, only momentarily fighting dizziness. As his eyes adjust, he looks down at his hands, not understanding what he was looking at. The backs of his hands and arms were covered in a thin layer of pitch black fur, with swirls of silver trailing through them. The back of his left hand had a familiar shape on it that he recognized as what his mom had called the Triforce, from the various stories she had told him, with the portion representing Courage filled in with bright golden fur. His nails had gotten longer, with the ends tapering into slightly curved points, and felt thicker than they were before, similar to a dog’s nails.

_“Okay, don’t panic. Look around, where am I?”_

He saw an open rusted treasure chest sitting in front of him, and several rotten wooden crates lining the room. An old mirror sat in one corner.

_“Oh right. The ruined house in the woods. Did I fall asleep or something?”_

He looked up the ladder, noticing that the sky looked too dark for it to be this bright. He could still see stars for goodness sake. He scratched the back of his neck, wincing at how sharp his nails were, before realizing there was even more hair growing there too. Continuing to be on the edge of panic, he got up, wobbling a bit as he did so, before walking over to the dusty mirror. Frowning at his reflection, which didn’t look quite right, he leaned closer to the mirror and wiped a patch of dust off, his breath catching when it was finally clear.

_“That…. That’s not me.”_

Staring back at him were two blood red eyes and a mane of shaggy hair, the same color of which covered the back of his arms. His nose had gotten slightly wider, his nostrils flared, and his jawline had gotten sharper. His mouth dropped open in surprise, and he was greeted by teeth that were far too sharp, resembling those of a wolf or similar predator. His ears drooped, something they shouldn’t be able to do at all, and he realized that they had grown in size, from the normal 5-10 centimeters of a regular Hylian to about 15 centimeters, with tufts of hair… (fur?) on the ends. They swiveled back, as if not wanting to be seen. He growled, shocking himself into stopping. A low whine sounded from the back of his throat instead.

_“Okay, maybe I should panic. Why in Farore’s name do I look like a monster?! Okay, think. What happened? I went exploring, found the house, went inside. Found this room, opened that chest, and…. What? I think I found something in it…”_

He wracked his memory for a bit, struggling to remember the moments before everything went black, when suddenly it came to him.

“Oh! That little black and orange thing! Goddesses, where is it?!”

He got down on his hands and knees, ignoring the itching feeling he was feeling all underneath his light red tunic, and began searching the room. Upon coming up empty handed, however, he huffed in frustration and sat back, the itching finally getting to him, and beginning to spread to on his legs and feet. He pulled his tunic off over his head, then his undershirt, before taking off his shoes and trousers, leaving him standing there in his underwear. He looked down, and saw a fine layer of fur the same color and pattern as was on his arms going down his chest, along his legs, and onto the tops of his feet, on which his nails looked the same as they had on his hands. On the center of his chest was a much larger clump of fur. Looking in the mirror, he noticed that the fur that seemed to plague his body continued down his back. Now that the itching had subsided, however, he realized that there was a subtle ache at the base of his spine.

_“Did I land funny when I passed out? I don’t think I- what.”_

He had a tail. A thin, wiry thing, about a foot in length, covered in yet more fur, long and shaggy like that of a dog. He only hadn’t noticed it before cause it had curled up in his trousers. The low whine from before returned.

“What. What the actual heck.”

He had the brief thought that if his mother could hear him now, he would already be eating a bar of soap, though he supposed language was the least of his concerns when he had apparently turned into some kind of dog monster. He still wasn’t convinced this wasn’t some kind of nightmare. He slowly put back on his clothes, letting his tail hang out, if only because it was still sore. At least the itch was gone. Smoothing down his tunic, he looked over into the mirror and realized something. There was no way in Hyrule he would be able to hide any of this. The only thing that hadn’t changed was his voice, and even then he kept whining and growling without meaning to. He had no idea what to do. What would his parents think? At that depressing thought, both his ears and tail fell.

_“Okay, focus. Assuming I’m not still asleep, I should get out of here. I can panic later. Or hopefully just wake up.”_

With that thought in mind, He turned to the ladder and started his climb, still wondering why it was so bright out. Had he fallen asleep for long enough for the sun to be coming up? He was definitely in trouble if that was the case. However, once he got to the top of the ladder and out of the house, he realized he, once again, had bigger issues. He hadn’t noticed at first, down in the dark, insulated room filled with stale, unmoving air, but he could smell. Everything. It was almost maddening. Not to mention the sounds, which were at a volume that almost hurt. And apparently he had either been asleep for an entire day, or had barely been asleep at all, since the moon was in about the same place, despite the fact that he could see almost as well as if it were broad daylight. This… was probably gonna be a problem as well. After almost falling out of the treehouse in confusion, he sat at the base of the tree, eyes closed and ear folded shut, trying his best to get used to the sensory overload. It was a lot to take in. He could smell the water of the small pond that was maybe 30 meters away as clearly as if he was sitting on its shore, and whenever he lifted his ears, he could hear the chirping of crickets like they were on his shoulder. After about another half hour or so, the pain lessened to a manageable amount, though it still wasn’t a walk through the woods, ironic, given his location. He got up, wincing as he did so, a dull pain that he was now realizing felt like his everything had taken a slight step to the left pulsing through his body. Great. Just what he needed.

_“Okay, first things first. Find Mom and Dad. They’ll help. It has to be like, a curse or something, right? People don’t just start growing hair like this. They’ll help.”_

Repeating that thought like a mantra, he stumbled forward about half a meter, before getting his balance and making his way back towards the village, sure that everything would be alright. He was about 50 meters from the outskirts of the village when he heard voices. He stopped, unsure of what to do, ears turning to catch the sound better. He could hear two voices, his father and Farley, one of the village guards. Unable to make out what they were saying, he got closer, though he stayed out of the torchlight covering the entrance. He wasn’t sure why, but something told him to ere on the side of caution. Now that he was closer though, he could hear what was being said.

“Aw, come on Richard, I’m sure it’ll be fine. Your boy disappears off into the woods by himself all the time. I’m sure he’ll be back soon.”

“That’s because you’re a lazy oaf, Farley” he growled, “Look, I’m going to go out and look for my son, alright? You can either let me through, or I can make you.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll move. You know I could never hold a candle to your sword skills anyways.”

Link could see the heavy set man step aside, allowing his father to stroll past, lantern in one hand and sword in his other. Oh geez. He didn’t look happy. He had that look in his eyes he always got right before Link would get grounded for doing something stupid that seemed like a good idea at the time. Kind of like right now, honestly. Okay. How was he going to do this? He could try to get his dad’s attention, but it was dark and he really didn’t want to surprise his dad. As he was deciding what to do, however, the decision was made for him. His dad lifted the lantern in his direction, eyes narrowing. Oh no. Link took a step back, accidentally stepping on a twig. Crud.

“Who goes there?!” Richard bellowed.

Well, here goes nothing.

“Dad?”

“Link? Son, where have you been? Your mother and I have been worried sick! Curfew was hours ago!”

Saying this, his father took a step forward, followed by another. Link stumbled back.

“W-wait!”

Richard froze, concern etched all over his face.

“What’s wrong? Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“…I’m… not sure. Um, please don’t freak out?”

“Why would I-“

Interrupting him, Link stepped into the light, uncertainty all over his face. His tail gave a half-hearted wag. Richard’s face contorted into an expression of confusion, then went blank, his grip on his blade tightening.

“Uh, hey dad. So I know I look really weird right now, and I don’t really know what happened, but-“

“Monster.”

“W-what?” He asked, ears drooping in fear.

“What have you done with my son, you monster.” Saying this, Richard drops into a fighting stance, sword held to his side. Link takes another step back, not quite understanding what was happening.

“D-dad? Dad, it’s ME. Link. Please, listen.”

“What have you done to my son?!”

Upon yelling this, he took a step forward and swung in an arc, causing Link to fall back with an actual yelp, before shuffling backwards as fast as he could. Tears filled his eyes as he tried to get to his feet.

“D-dad? Dad please! It’s me! I’m Link!”

“Beast, what have you done with my son?!”

His dad lunged forward with yet another strike, causing Link to roll to the side, scrambling on all fours to run as fast as he could. Without thinking, he lept away on all fours, running through the woods like he had been born a creature of the woods. He could hear his father screaming at him in the distance, and the sound of others running his direction. With tears filling his eyes, he ran, ears and nose guiding him where his sight failed, taking a path deeper into the forest that he had never gone down before, guided as if by instinct. He didn’t stop running until long after he stopped being able to hear or smell the others. Legs finally failing him, he fell to his knees, eyes still filled with tears that he couldn’t bring himself to wipe away.

_“I knew that they wouldn’t be happy, but to try to kill me…”_

Unable to finish the thought, he cried loudly into the night, his wails tapering off into mournful howls. Energy finally exhausted, he fell asleep where he lay, dead to the world. Therefore, he didn’t notice when multiple small, floating lights congregated around his sleeping body. He didn’t even notice when two hand the size of shields gently picked him up and carried him away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I know, no zombies yet. To be honest, those are gonna take a while to show up. In the meantime, enjoy the beginning of werewolf angst!
> 
> Also, I'm debating on just how long chapters should be. After all, this was originally chapters 1 and 2, but it felt far too short to me. Anyways, hope you enjoyed! Chapter 2 coming soon!


	3. Chapter 2

Link wakes slowly, blinking at the light shining into his eyes. He groans, lifting his aching arm over his eyes, fur brushing against his- wait, fur? Oh, right. Fur. He had fur now. He dropped his arm back down, a groan escaping his lips. At least he wasn’t sore anymore. Maybe he could just lay here a bit longer. After all, it wasn’t like he was in trouble or anything. Unfortunately with that thought, however, was the fact that he was, in fact, In Trouble, which he remembered moments later. In response to this realization, he shot upright, before rolling over on all fours with his senses going into overdrive, trying to figure out where he was. He could FEEL his fur standing up on end all over his body, and he realized that he was baring his teeth, with a soft growl emanating from somewhere in his throat. Most of the light retreated, and with a start, he saw that the majority of the lights were in fact what looked like small, floating orbs of light, like tiny stars. Fireflies maybe? Not seeing any immediate threats, he could feel himself start to relax, when he heard a soft feminine chuckle come from behind him. He spun on his hands, teetering a bit before landing on his feet, facing towards the sound. Before he had time to wonder how he had done that, however, his mind stuttered to a halt at what he was looking at.

“Glad to see that you’re finally awake young one. The little ones and I were so worried when we found you passed out in the woods.”

It was a giant woman. A giant, floating, bluish-green haired woman, wearing a partial skirt and not much else, though her hair laid over her chest, surrounded by what he was now sure were fairies. She was hovering over a decent sized fountain, her multiple sets of wings flared out behind her. A Great Fairy. She had to be. He had never met a fairy before, let alone a great one, but his mother had told him stories about giant woman with great power, who would help the era’s chosen hero in their time of need. At least, according to his mom. And here he was, covered in fur looking like some kind of monster, all alone in front of one. A small whine sounded in his throat before he could stop it. A look akin to concern came across her face.

“Oh dear, are you still hurting? I was sure I had healed you completely. Is it the curse? Oh, I tried to do something about it, but I’m afraid Shadow magic of that strength is a bit beyond my expertise. I’m honestly surprised it only affected you as much as it did. Maybe one of my sisters might know what to do, I really should send some of the girls out to see them. If only the Light Spirits were still here, they could do something to help.”

He blinked, not sure what he should say, or if he should say anything at all. This was a Great Fairy. An extremely magical holy being in service of the Goddesses. It was probably the same rules as meeting royalty or something, right? Stay quiet and only speak when spoken to? Then again, she had tried to heal him, though from what he could tell it hadn’t done much beside remove residual aches. Well, here went nothing.

“H-hello miss Great Fairy. Um…”

Drat. He was blanking. Not good. However, the fairy looked more amused than anything.

“Hello to you too dear. Are you hurting at all?”

“Um, no. Thank you.”

“You’re very welcome dear. When the little ones told me some poor wolf child had passed out in the woods, I just couldn’t leave you there. What’s your name young one?”

“Um, Link, miss.”

Her eyebrows rose a fraction.

“Is that so? Well met Link. You may call me Diana. And if I may, that is quite the curse you found. I’ve never seen anything quite like it, though I remember my older sister in the desert once mentioning a young man who could turn into a wolf at will. I’ll have to ask her to tell me the story again some time.”

“Ah, um, Miss Diana?”

“Hmm?”

“Uh, where am I?”

“Oh! Right, you were asleep. You’re in my fountain dear, a holy grove deep within the woods. I thought it might help your condition.”

“Oh.”

“Yes, ‘Oh’ indeed.” She said, trying not to laugh.

As he looked around, he could see pristine marble columns and stained glass windows, all covered in colorful plant life. He sat back down, slightly overwhelmed. A fairy flitted over and landed on his head, nesting in his hair. He let it be. Diana seemed content to let him sit there, so he took advantage of it to gather his thoughts. He scratched his right shoulder with his left hand, catching her attention.

“Oh, may I see your hand dear? What is that on the back of it?” she said, as she floated over and bent down to get a closer look.

Once she was close enough to see what it was, though, she reared back, a look of wonder crossing her face. Several more fairies drifted over towards Link in the meantime, alighting on his shoulders and arms, since the fairy on his head didn’t seem intent on sharing.

“That explains why the curse feels like it was stopped partway…”

“Um, why is that Miss Diana?”

“Because it **was** stopped partway. By you.”

“Me??”

“Yes, you. You have quite a bit of dormant magical power Link. You’re quite blessed in fact. If that curse had affected anyone but yourself, I’m almost positive it would have killed them.”

“I almost wish it had.” He muttered without thinking.

His eyes shot wide open and he jolted back, sending most of the fairies sitting on him to fly off. The one on his head, however, seemed far too comfortable to move. Ignoring that, he looked up at the Great Fairy, praying to Hylia that she hadn’t heard him. Given the sad look on her face, however, she had.

“Oh dear… is that why we found you out in the woods? What happened Link…?”

He sat there, tears filling his eyes, as he tried not to break down crying. Immediately, he could feel the fairy in his hair rustling, as if to get his attention, and dozens of fairies flew from various corners of the room to press up against him, as if to give him a hug. Even Diana herself floated over, lowering herself until she was sitting in front of him, before holding out a hand that was as large as his torso. He took it, and she gently pulled him onto her lap, cradling him as sobs racked his body. They stayed like that for some time, until he had calmed down enough that he was no longer shaking. Link moved to sit up, and she let him. Once he managed to explain what had happened, however, she immediately pulled him close again. Now that he was no longer crying, he could feel a blush starting to grow on his face from the affection he was getting.

“Miss Diana?”

She squeezed him tighter in response, though never enough to hurt.

“Oh Link. No parent should do that to their child, regardless of what happens.”

At those words, tears started to fill his eyes once again.

“I… I don’t know what I’m gonna do… I can’t go back, they’ll kill me.”

She sat up and gave him a look of confusion. When he just stared back at her, she spoke.

“You’re staying here, of course. What kind of protector would I be if I let something happen to you? Besides, even if I hadn’t gotten attached to you, Luna appears to have claimed you as her own, and I can’t very well send away one of my girls.”

“Luna?”

Diana just chuckled.

“She would be your new hat.”

Link looked up, and was shocked to see a small light blue face with blue eyes and short dark blue hair staring back at him upside down from on top of his head. The small girl waved hello, and he lifted his hand shyly in response.

“Uh, hi there.”

To his surprise, a small jingling voice responded.

“Hello!”

“Oh! You can speak!”

She giggled, a sweet, chime-like sound, before jumping off of his head and flipping over to fly at his eye level. Now that he was paying attention, he could see that she was in fact shaped rather like a Hylian, and was not in fact a ball of light, though she was only about the size of a mouse, and was wearing a modest white dress. She glowed softly with a light the same color as her skin, and her dual wings, like those of a dragonfly, spread out behind her.

“So can you! What’s so special about it?”

“I… huh. I dunno. I guess it isn’t?”

“Dork.”

“Hey!”

Diana laughed, interrupting the both of them mid fight.

“I’m glad to see you’re both getting along. That being said, Link, would you like to meet the rest of the girls?”

“Oh, um, if you think I should miss.”

“So polite. I do think so, but only if you want to dear.”

“Well, if I’m going to be staying with you I probably should…”

“It’s settled then. Girls! Come meet the newest member of the family!”

At those words, small specks of light, all in different colors, started popping up from behind every pillar and plant in the room. Luna flits back up and over Links head, settling back into his hair, though whether it was to claim her spot or to make room for others, he wasn’t sure. Before he could put much thought to that question, though, another fairy flew over and landed on his hand, followed by several others, all a blueish white, who either landed on him or just floated around. Looking down at her though, he couldn’t make out any details. Squinting, he lifted her up closer, but he could still only make out a basic roundish shape in the light. Up close, however, he saw two small dots on what he assumed was the front. He blinked. The dots blinked back.

“Um…”

“That’s a Healing Fairy, Link,” he heard Luna say from on top of his head, “They’re basically a… baby fairy, I guess? They don’t really do much else besides float around and heal people. They might be more like pet dogs than babies actually, now that I think about it.”

“You don’t know?”

“I’ve never had to explain this kind of stuff before!”

“Huh. Did you ever look like this?”

“No, I’m a Guardian Fairy.”

“A… Guardian Fairy?”

“That’s right.” said a new voice.

Upon looking up, Link saw another mouse sized fairy, this one in various shades of pink, with butterfly wings and pigtails, wearing a shorter dress adorned with small feathers and other objects. Floating not far behind her were several more, such as a green one with beetle wings and long hair wearing a dress made of leaves, and a yellow one with the wings of a bee and a braid in her hair, with a yellow and black striped vest. Behind them was a veritable rainbow of other Guardian Fairies, all with different kinds of wings and appearances.

“A Guardian Fairy,” continued the pink one, “is a fairy that dedicates their existence to guiding and protecting a chosen child of the forest. In days past, that usually meant the Kokiri, though ever since they started shedding their Hylian forms, they’ve stopped needing us, since the average Hylian can’t even see them anyways.”

“Here’s a tip kid,” piped up a red fairy, “if you ever see somethin that looks like a Hylian, ‘bout your age, made of wood and leaves and stuff? That’s a Kokiri. Mostly harmless, but they like to play pranks, so keep an eye on em.”

The pink one just rolled her eyes and kept talking.

“Thank you Fiera. As I was saying, we guardian Fairies protect children in the woods, but lately there have been fewer and fewer children lost in the woods, which, while a good thing, means that we have less and less to do. We still guide children who get lost out as often as possible, but our true purpose is to find our partner. The child we were meant for. Some of us find multiple over the years, some of us only ever find one, and some of us never find them at all. That’s how we found you out in the woods. Luna could sense that you needed her. You’re her first. Which, honestly, isn’t surprising, given that she’s about the same age as you. She’s technically still training. She shouldn’t have even been able to claim you, but the connection was almost instant. You two were bonded before you even woke up. Lucky her.”

The entire speech, Link could feel Luna sinking lower and lower into the mane of hair that now covered his head, until he was positive that even if he could see the top of his own head, he wouldn’t have been able to find her, even with her glow. He could hear muttering coming from deep in his hair though, something along the lines of ‘C’mon sis, please stop. You’re embarrassing me. Sis please.’ He couldn’t help it. He laughed, stopping the pink fairy in her tracks.

“Hey Luna?” he asked.

“…Yeah?” came the muffled, hesitant reply.

“Thank you.”

“…You’re welcome.”

The pink fairy just smiled.

“Hey Link? I don’t think I ever properly introduced myself.” The pink fairy said, “My name is Pria. I’m the eldest Guardian Fairy here, so mom put me in charge of my sisters.”

“It’s nice to meet you Pria. I- wait, mom?”

“You’ve been calling her ‘Miss Diana’.”

“Ah.”

* * *

It would be several days before he would learn all of the about twenty or so Guardian Fairies’ names, though Luna stuck to him like glue the entire time, riding in his hair and helping him throughout to the best of her abilities. As it was, he had no idea how he would ever learn any of the Healing Fairies’ names. Not only were there dozens of them, but they were all identical, and half of the names were closer to noises than actual names. Luckily, being rather simple in nature, they didn’t care, and flitted about around him at all hours of the day like he was the most exciting thing to happen in ages. When clustered together, they sounded rather like a distant wind chime, so he didn’t mind. It was nice to listen to. Apparently they were talking, but according to Luna, even the other fairies had a hard time understanding them sometimes. He wasn’t quite sure he understood how that worked, but he took her word for it.

There was something, however, that he did understand that even the fairies didn’t. He could understand animals, and apparently they could understand him. It had been a total shock when he found out. He had been wandering around the clearing outside of the cavern the fountain was hidden within, Luna and Solana, a yellow fairy with wings that looked like maple leaves, sitting in his hair doing lessons, when he heard another voice nearby. He stopped in his tracks, and his ears swiveled around towards the sound so he could hear it better. Against his better judgement, he snuck towards the voice, stopping in shock when it seemed to call him out.

“Hey! Hey you! Yeah, you! The one with the fairies in his hair! Up here!”

Confused, he looked up, at first unable to find what was making the sound.

“Hey, I’m right here!”

A squirrel. It was a squirrel. He was being yelled at by a squirrel. He shook his head like a wet dog without thinking, hoping that whatever bad berries he had eaten would stop soon. Solana fell off with a surprised squeak, while Luna merely held on for dear life. When he looked back up, the squirrel was still there, and it was still yelling at him.

“Look, I know you can hear me buddy. Forgive me for asking, but what exactly are you? You look kind of like a Hylian, but you smell far too much like a wolf to be one.”

“Uh, I am a Hylian? I just… have a curse. I’m living with the Great Fairy because my village kicked me out…”

“Ouch. Sorry to hear that kid. Hope things work out, and thanks for sating my curiosity!”

With those parting words, the squirrel ran off, leaving him to explain to an upset Solana and a very dizzy Luna what had just happened. When Diana later heard the story, she just shook her head fondly, adding another side effect of the curse to her mental checklist. The more she looked at the curse, the more it started to seem like a blessing in and of itself, though she kept these thoughts to herself. She knew Link wouldn’t see it that way, the poor child. She was just glad that he appeared to get along with all of her fairies, especially Luna. The last thing that boy needed right now was to be alone with his thoughts. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that poor Link isn't in any immediate danger, i think it's time we check on Zelda, see how she's doing. See you next time!


	4. Chapter 3

Zelda woke up suddenly, heart hammering its way out of her chest. Looking around her dark bedroom, she half expected to see one of the many monsters from her now reoccurring nightmare lurking there. She carefully got up and poked her head out the door, and upon seeing no one but Impa, who looked over at her in concern but stayed silent, she let out a breath, trying her best to calm down with little success. Every time she closed her eyes, she could see the faces of the dead closing in on her. Some of them she recognized which made it all the worst. She was getting to the point where she was resigning herself to yet another sleepless night, when the door to her room quietly opened and Impa poked her head in. Zelda looked up, and Impa seemed to hesitate for a moment before speaking.

“Zelda, are you alright? This is the fourth night in a row you’ve come out to check if I was here, and I’ve noticed that lately you’ve been tired during the day.”

“Yes Impa, I’m perfectly…,” she said, before sighing, “No, that’s a lie. I’m not fine.”

Upon hearing those words, Impa came in the door and closed it behind her, before walking over and sitting at the foot of Zelda’s bed. She motioned for her to continue.

“I’ve been having the same dream for four… no, five nights. Though if I’m being honest, it’s a nightmare. It’s been getting longer and more detailed each night too. And afterwards, I can’t quite rest, like as if the dream is real, but that’s ridiculous.”

“It might not be.”

“Huh?”

“The royal family has a long history of princesses having prophetic dreams before times of peril. This, Hylia forbid, might be one of those, if it’s been getting worst.”

“Oh Goddesses Impa, don’t say that. This dream is the last thing I ever want to become true.”

“And why is that, princess?”

“I see the dead, Impa. I see the dead rise, and cover the land. I see armies of skeletal warriors, ranging from giants with a single eye, to hounds covered in the remains of matted fur, and the skeletons of monsters of all kinds in between. I see screaming corpses overtake villagers, and those wrapped in funeral bindings walk the streets. I see rotting carcasses, both monster and Hylian, rise back up and turn on the living. In some of them, I see those I recognize, either from the castle itself or the town below. And in the end, I see Hyrule occupied only by those who shamble outside of the Goddesses’ grasp, with not a living thing in sight. I see the end of the world. So no, Impa. I really hope you’re wrong. Because I really don’t want to think about the alternative.”

Impa was silent for a moment, face nearly unreadable, before she lowered her head with a heavy sigh.

“Tomorrow, we need to tell the king.”

At first King Leon was loath to accept the nightmare as prophetic, but once his daughter was able to describe monsters that even he had only seen briefly in a dusty old book in great detail, even he had to admit that it was more than likely what she had seen would come to pass if nothing was done. So he did what any good king would do. He went to his advisor, and upon discussing it, the two decided that the best course of action would be to act upon it. At the very least, research into the monsters could be done, damaged walls and outposts could be repaired, and soldiers could be trained on how to fight the undead, all in advance of the worst actually occurring. With all of this set in motion, the king calls Impa aside to talk to her in private.

“Impa. I’m assuming Zelda only came to me after she spoke to you?”

She was silent a moment before replying.

“Yes your majesty.”

“Thank you.”

She raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

“You continue to prove your worth as a Sheikah guardian, despite your young age. In fact, in this case, it may be because of your age.”

“I don’t understand.”

“It’s been my impression that Zelda sees you as a sort of older sister, and therefore feels she can trust you. Because of this, I would like to ask two things of you.”

“Anything sir.”

“First, I would like you to train her how to fight. I hope she never needs to know how, but all things considered, it would be foolish of me to keep her vulnerable. If we fail here, she’ll need those skills to survive. Will you train her?”

“Yes sir.”

“Excellent. Which comes to my next request, though this one is, in all truth, an order. If we fail, you are to do absolutely everything in your power to keep Zelda alive. This includes leaving me, her mother, and everything else behind and running, if need be. Do you understand?”

“…Yes sir.”

“Good. I wouldn’t ask this of you if I didn’t think you could do it. And if the worst does come to pass…”

“I’ll do what must be done… sir.”

“That’s all I can ask. Thank you.”

All he could ask. Wasn’t asking much, was he? Sure, she was already willing to lay her life on the line for the princess, it was her job after all, and she rather liked Zelda, but he was asking for a bit more than that. He was asking her to leave everyone else to die, which absolutely did not sit well with her. She was only 20 for Hylia’s sake! Well, there wasn’t much she could do anyways. If things got bad enough that the castle itself fell, she wouldn’t be able to do much aside from take Zelda and run. She sighed quietly, before heading over towards Zelda had been waiting while the king spoke to her. At least the girl would be happy about his decision to train her in combat. She had caught her watching soldiers train multiple times, as well as trying to break into the armory several times. Not only would it provide a nice distraction, but it would be interesting to see what weapons she took to the best. If it was anything with magic though, she would need help teaching her. Shadow magic didn’t really play well with Light magic, which the royal family was notorious for having. With that thought in mind, she walked up to Zelda and stood next to her quietly, waiting for the oblivious little girl to notice. About a minute later, she did, announcing her discovery with a yelp, falling backwards a step, before steadying herself to glare up at her.

“Impa! That wasn’t nice, you big meany!”

She couldn’t help it. She snorted. She reached over and ruffled Zelda’s hair, ignoring the indignant screech that came with it. Perks of being the princess’ personal babysitter. Once Zelda had gotten her hair more or less how it was before, however, she looked up at her expectantly.

“Well?”

“Well what princess?”

“What did my dad want?! He’s taking this seriously, right?”

Impa sobered up for a moment, before smiling again.

“More than you would think. In fact, would you like to know what he’s asked me to do?”

“What, what?” she asked, unable to contain her excitement.

“He’s asked me to train you how to fight with a weapon.”

For once, Zelda was utterly speechless, though Impa could see the stars beginning to form in her eyes, mouth hanging slightly open. She turned away and started walking towards the training grounds, just as the young girl managed to recover and follow behind her, mouth running a mile a minute.

“Can I try your naginata?”

“No. That one’s mine. If you want a staff weapon we’ll start you with a broomstick.”

“That’s boring. How about a broadsword! A big one, like the knights use!”

“Can you lift a broadsword?”

“It can’t be that hard!”

“Maybe we should start you with a rapier.”

“But you can’t cut anything with those!”

Impa just shook her head, and kept walking.

“How about we start you with a bow?”

“Oh! Like those big ones they use to kill boar?”

“Those are bigger than you are Zelda. I was thinking more of a small shortbow to start.”

“But that’s no fun!”

She stopped to look down at the stubborn child next to her, but rather than say anything, she merely ruffled her hair again and kept walking, once again ignoring the sputtered childish insults. A sister, huh? Yeah, she could live with that. There were much worse fates than being saddled with a kid as interesting as Zelda.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Been meaning to post this for a few days now, but stuff kept happening. Anyways, here it is, sorry for the shorter chapter. Back to Link and Luna for a bit next time.


End file.
